Firebrand - Radiance Hybrid

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Overview

Not being a direct replacement for Mantra Bunker, it's usually played as the second Firebrand in double FB comps. Mixing damage with heavy healing/boon sharing, this PvP build's rather flexible when it comes to roles and can do anything from 1v1s to supporting the team in larger fights.

Skill Bar

Sword/FocusHealingUtilityElite

Axe/Shield

Slot Changes

Utility

For the optional slot you should take either of these stun breakers:

- a great panic button especially against heavy condition pressure.

- mobility boost which makes it easier to rotate between capture points (or chase down targets).

Specializations

Equipment

18

Superior Sigil of Annulment

Your next attack after swapping to this weapon while in combat will remove 2 boons from your target.

9

Superior Sigil of Energy

Gain 50% of your endurance when you swap to this weapon while in combat. (Cooldown: 9s)

9

Superior Sigil of Agility

Gain 5 seconds of swiftness and 1 second of quickness when you swap to this weapon while in combat. (Cooldown: 9s)

9

Superior Sigil of Energy

Gain 50% of your endurance when you swap to this weapon while in combat. (Cooldown: 9s)

Usage

Sustained healing (when not flipping through tomes) for the most part will come from dodge rolling and Aegis spamming (specifically through the traits

and

).

Combining the

empowered Retaliation with Fury pushes you to the 100% crit chance cap. If you only have one of these boons

comes into play.

recharges all your Tomes, try to exhaust them for your sustain before having to resort to this elite. The trait

is kind of a lesser version of this, capable of recharging

.

NOTE: the cooldown of a tome which is actively being used during a CD reset from either of these WILL NOT be reset! For instance if you still have 3 pages on

but a target is just about to die, exit the tome so it can recharge.

CD resets are limited to the tomes themselves, skills within the tomes are excluded.

Symbols and damage

Most of the damage comes from symbols and auto attacks, with the occasional mantra or tome skill thrown into the mix.

Because of

your symbols can cover an entire capture point on certain maps. They'll also heal allies, damage foes, and apply boons among other things. Stand in them for as long as possible!

There are 3 symbols in the build:

(Sword) is one of the few sources of Fury in the build and also serves as a gap closer.

(Axe) which probably does more things than any other symbol. There are 2 important things to note about this skill - one, it's always placed in front of your character, not below you or the target and two,

turn this skill into a CC which Dazes upon being placed on the ground.

A lesser version of

procs from your mantra heal via

. This is a short duration one but fairly important because there's not a lot of Protection in the build, not to mention that it can be activated instantly by blowing mantra charges even while CC'd. Being instant, it's also a good source of extra damage if you need some additional cleave.

If you want to do burst damage, overlap a bunch of symbols and keep targets inside them with CCs such as

or

whilst auto attacking.

Mantras

Given enough time Mantras will recover their charges as long as at least one charge is left, so think twice before using the final charge - that's the most powerful one, but will put the Mantra on full CD.

is your healing skill.

should be shared with as many allies as possible. They do not receive the initial healing, but they do gain Aegis with all its related trait benefits. Note that this skill can be used while CC'd.

The Aegis can be shared with downed players when you're reviving them in case you're being cleaved down.

is a mix of both damage and sustain.

Each charge inflicts damage and various conditions, most notably Weakness (mitigates incoming direct damage significantly) and Blind (the skill's instant, and being able to make attack miss no matter what you're doing can be really strong when used right).

is the final charge which applies Immobilize. While the immob doesn't last too long, it's still good for pinning targets down in a team fight or just rooting them into multiple overlapping symbols.

Tomes

All tomes retain their passives after activation so don't hesitate to use them under pressure.

Swapping out of a tome sends it on CD even if you didn't consume all the pages. Skills #4 and #5 are usually the strongest but with the longest recharge.

It's possible to switch directly from tome to tome.

Since the build doesn't trait for extra pages, your use of tomes is going to be a bit more limited, often prioritizing the use of only 2-3 skills.

Damage boost and some CC

Chapter 1: Searing Spell

½

Chapter 1: Searing Spell

Fueled by tales of the desolation in Istan, incite a great swelling of heat before you.

Damage: 391 (1.1)

Burning (3s): 393 Damage

Number of Targets: 5

Range: 600

spam after

Chapter 4: Scorched Aftermath

½

10

Chapter 4: Scorched Aftermath

Detail the suffering in fire and blood inflicted during Vabbi's occupation.

Damage: 1135 (3.2)

Bleeding (2s): 44 Damage

Burning (2s): 262 Damage

Number of Targets: 5

Pulses: 5

Duration: 4 seconds

Interval: 1 second

Radius: 360

Combo Field: Fire

can be used for burst damage while standing in symbols. The rest of the tome is more situational.

Chapter 2: Igniting Burst

¾

4

Chapter 2: Igniting Burst

Ignite the air around you in an expanding burst.

Damage: 195 (0.55)

2Burning (6s): 1572 Damage

Weakness (4s): -50% Endurance Regeneration, 50% Fumble (Unrestricted)

Number of Targets: 5

Radius: 240

is useful for stacking Weakness, which means this is arguably the most defensive skill here.

Chapter 3: Heated Rebuke

¾

8

Chapter 3: Heated Rebuke

Ignite the air around you in an expanding burst.

Damage: 160 (0.45)

Pull: 240

Number of Targets: 5

Radius: 240

Range: 900

is the only CC on this tome, and a rather good one at that. As usual, CCs are mostly situational.

Epilogue: Ashes of the Just

&34;

12

Epilogue: Ashes of the Just

Recall the memory of fallen heroes, granting allies the searing blades of justice.

3Ashes of the Just (10s): Your next strike burns with justice.

Burning (3s): 393 Damage

Radius: 600

won't really be used, maybe aside from boosting the damage of allies if the enemy target is out of your reach (and the skill's value goes up with the number of nearby allies).

Healing, cleansing, boon stacking

Usually start with

Epilogue: Eternal Oasis

¾

12

Epilogue: Eternal Oasis

Purify your allies with the waters of Amnoon and increase the healing they receive.

[PvE] Eternal Oasis (8s): 33% Heal Effectiveness

[PvP/WvW] Eternal Oasis (8s): 20% Heal Effectiveness

Conditions Converted to Boons: 5.

Number of Allied Targets: 5

Range: 600

, then spam

Chapter 1: Desert Bloom

½

Chapter 1: Desert Bloom

Tales of desert blooms create a wave of healing for your allies.

[PvE] Healing: 730 (0.96)

[PvP/WvW] Healing: 564 (0.728)

Number of Allied Targets: 5

Radius: 600

(and

Chapter 2: Radiant Recovery

¾

4

Chapter 2: Radiant Recovery

Release a torrent of pages describing the water cycle of the Elon River. Heal allies and grant them swiftness.

[PvE] Healing: 457 (0.77)

[PvP/WvW] Healing: 388 (0.5)

[PvE/WvW] Conditions Removed: 3

[PvP] Conditions Removed: 2

Number of Allied Targets: 5

Radius: 240

if you need cleansing) to heal up.

The tome of emergencies

Chapter 2: Daring Challenge

¼

4

Chapter 2: Daring Challenge

As the tales recount of Turai, taunt your enemies by issuing an insightfully inciting challenge.

Damage: 497 (1.4)

Taunt (1s): Involuntarily attack foes.

Aegis (3s): Block the next incoming attack.

Radius: 240

should be used ~on CD (delay it a bit if you already have an active Aegis). The Aegis makes it great under pressure even if the target can't be CC'd, and this is the only skill on the latter 2 tomes which does damage.

Resistance (1s): Conditions currently on you are ineffective; stacks duration.

Number of Pulses (PvE): 4

Number of Targets: 3

Interval: 1 second

Radius: 360

Combo Field: Light

Range: 1,200

Breaks stun

should usually be the first skill you use after entering this tome, and this is your single best tool against conditions. Under heavy condition pressure you may not have enough time to cleanse with

, in which case the low cast time and the Resistance provided by this skill are going to be quite useful. This is also the only tome skill which breaks stun. Try to use it twice before leaving the tome, if possible.

This is the best FB build for Solo queue. For duo and tournament bunker is the best. Some utility slots can be changed according to personal preference or the enemy comp. However, you should absolutely take Archivist of Whispers. If you decide to not take Legendary Lore, then Weighty Terms is a much better choice than Stalwart Speed. Contrary to some comments, this build dishes out quite decent damage AND healing. You will end up with top healing stats 90% of match ups.

I dont see the point.. Jack of all trades master of none. Lacks the damage to beat damage oriented builds and lacks the healing or utility to be truly supportive. I'd take core or bunker over this all day long.

dps fb is really something in ranked. im not sure about best traits rn just that menders is the way to go at this point. travelers? good enough. I think we've all seen just how good a power fb is at this point(top teir in ranked for awhile)